Millinery-pliers.



R. C. VOM CLEF?. MILLINERY PLIERS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNEa, 1911.

1,077,672. Patented NOVA, 1913.

ROBERT C. VOM CLEFF, 0F HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY.

MILLINERY-PLIERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed J' une 3, 1911.

Serial No. 631,029.

To all 'whom t may concern Be 1t known that I, ROBERT C. voM CLEFF, a citizen of the United States of America,

and a resident of Hoboken, in the county of Hudson, State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful improvements in htillincry-Pliers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to improvements in pliers such as are used for cutting wire for instance.

It is the special purpose of this invention to produce improved pliers which'are particularly adapted for cutting tine wires and especially fine silk covered wires. Such tine silk covered wires are used in certain arts and trades particularly for millinery purposes in making and trimming hats and bonnets, for wiring plumes and ribbons and in the manufacture of artificial flowers and the like. For cutting such fine silk covered wires some pliers heretofore used had cutting edges in their jaws which just met at the best when the pliers were closed. If. however, such pliers were used for some time or if by inadvertence of an operator something heavier or harder was cut therewith the cutting edges did not meet perfectly. The conseoucnce was that fine wires could not be cut with such pliers any more and particularly the silk covering of the same could not be cut evenly and would leave a frayed edge or would evenunravel for a certain length.

Other combination tools having` knives or cutters which operate like shear-blades were constructed for specific purposes and not adapted for cleanlv cuttingiine silk covered wires as are used for millinery purposes.

It is the special purposek of this invention to produce improved pliers particularly for millinerv purposes which cut the finest wires and their silk covering smoothly and evenlv and the pliers will retain this duality until worn out bv general wear andtear.

The invention further consists in the combination. construction and arrangement of the detail parts as required for the specific purposes intended.

In order to make the invention entirely clear reference is had to the accompanyine` drawing in which:

Figure 1 represents in side elevation a pair of pliers for millinery and kindred purposes which embody in desirable form the present improvements. Fig. 2 is a rear view of same. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the upper part of the pliers partly opened. Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4 -4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line rat-cated Nov. 4., 1913.

5 5 of Fig. 3, and Fig. 6 is a detail view on an enlarged scale in cross section in the same plane as Fig. 5 showing the covered wire in the moment of being severed.

Similar characters of reference denote like parts in all the figures.

Referring now to the drawing a, l), represent the jaws and c, di, are the handles which are preferably integral therewith as usual. The noses e, f. are preferably narrow for purposes to be explained farther down. The meeting surfaces of the noses are cut in the usual manner. Each jaw is interiorly cut out forming partly a nearly crescent-shaped incision g near the cutting edge while the rest of the incision yis of usual construction as shown. The crescentshaped incisions serve for taking up hairlike little threads projecting from the silk thread which are separated when the wire is cut. and minute particles of metal and silk occurring when by inadvertence of the operator the wire has to be cut a second time. The flaring portions of the recesses permit of the convenient passage of the wire as usual. On the jaw a, however, there is an attachment L which consists of a steel plate secured to said jaw bv means of the pivot i that connects both halves of the pliers. Thus the jaw a serves as a support for the cutting attachment L. The attachment h nearly extends to the side end of the jaw a. At its outer end it extends to about the inner end of the nose e while the upper inner end portion of said attachment forms a cutting edge h1 that extends toward the handle in a slanting direction beyond the straight line of the file cut nose e so that the cutting edge begins at the inner end of the straight surface of the tile-cut nose e and reaches over' the jaw Zn to a certain extent when the pliers are in a closed condition as illustrated in Fig. 1.

In 'order to prevent any lateral movement of the attachment the same is provided with a slight extension h2 through which a screw j or bolt passes. As shown in Figs. l and 8 the screw or bolt fi passes into the inner portion of the handle d formed Vintegrally with the jaw a so that the attachment is secured at two points. The extension h2 is about as Wide asthe adjoining top surface` of thc handle (l. For the purpose of preventing sharp outer edges on the attachnient the Vsaine is beveled off all around eX- cept the extension 722. drawing the pliers are Vshown as partly opened. It is plainly seen from this figure that the slanting cutting edge h1 of the attachment 7i overlaps the straight cutting edge 51 formed on the jaw b. Upon closing the pliers the tivo cutting edge perform a shear-like motion and possess a shear-like action by virtue of the attaclnnent'and its slanting cutting edge that overlaps the straight cutting' edge of the jaw b. Any Wire, bare or silk-covered, no matter how line, will be cleanly cut by these pliers leaving a smooth cutting edge and Without distorting the silk covering'. Under no circumstances will these pliers get into a condition not to eut line Wires.

The shearing action of the present pliers is performed from the beginning of closing the sarne to the end. Thus an exceedingly reliable cutting tool for tine Wires has been produced and in addition thereto the narrovvv fine tile-cut inner surfaces of the noses permit of making twists, bends and knots in the Wire by a `siinple motion of the hand.

I claim as iny invention:

1. Millinery pliers for cutting ine silk covered `Wires comprising a pivoted pair of handled jaws each -cut out so 'as to forni a crescent-shape incision and a vtransverse In Fig. 3 of the flaring niain recess, straight cutting edge handledY jaws, noses thereon with opposed.

roughened grasping faces and at one side opposed straight edges with inclined bottoins forming conjointly a flaring recess across the jaws, said bottoms having each a second recess of crescent-shape beginning at said straight edge and deepening therefrom across the jaw to its curvedboundary, and a cutting attachment secured tothe secondjaw by ineans of the pivot and with its inner end to the handle of said second jaw, said attachment having a cutting edge -extending linwardly toward the handle in a slanting direction overlapping the cutting edge portion of the 'irst jaw when the pliers are closed. Y

Signed at New York, N. Y., this 2nd day of June, 1911.

v RG-BERT G. von CLEFF. 'lVitnesses z CORINNE MYERS, VERA F. PAULSEN.

Gopiesof this patent may be obtained Vfor ve cents each, by addressing Vthe Commissonerfof Patents, Washington, I). C. 

